i wonder how well a simple 6 foot ply wood rudder would work. my boat has about 3 feet of stern, i was thinking about just taking a 18 inch by 6 foot plywood board sealed with epoxy with some sort of rudder hanger screwed to the stern. then a simple tiller that bolts on should work. it could be stored under a settee cushion. it might not be perfect but it would have to be better than no rudder at all and best of all cost under a 100 bucks

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts..

Unless you plan on crossing an ocean why worry about losing your rudder? The odds are probably a million to one in your favor anyway that it will never happen. Other than hitting a piece of debris you failed to spot the Chesapeake isn't going to deal you a dirty hand from weather conditions. Just get a membership to Boat US or Sea Tow and save the plywood for an other project.
Mike

Whatever breaks, I plug-in an emergency tiller to the side that still works (ss pipe - very sturdy) and disconect the tie rod. If the other is bent hard over, there may be something required there, who can say.

Should the rudder tube rip out, there are 2 water-tight bulkheads in between it and the cabin.

Yes, I know cats have their weaknesses. Doesn't everything. This is a strength. I had 2 rudder failures on a prior cat, and neither required any more heartburn than sailing home.

i wonder how well a simple 6 foot ply wood rudder would work. my boat has about 3 feet of stern, i was thinking about just taking a 18 inch by 6 foot plywood board sealed with epoxy with some sort of rudder hanger screwed to the stern. then a simple tiller that bolts on should work. it could be stored under a settee cushion. it might not be perfect but it would have to be better than no rudder at all and best of all cost under a 100 bucks

i could even shape like below to cut some weight, and bevel the edges

**
**
**
***
****
****
****
****

I have wondered about that too. I bet it could be done. I wonder if that would be prudent seamanship on fin/spade setups (like most production baots) before going cruising?? And would it be that involved to come up with a makeshift rudder?

On my boat, under the settee cushions I have plywood panels that make the base for them both port and starboard. My plan for emergency rudder has always been to use those panels along with the muffler clamps I carry on board and the whisker pole lashed to the rail.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts..

I have some concern about the adaquacy of plywood for this application. Remember, your carrying this in case your original rudder fails, so presumably there are some significant loads being applied to the rudder. Half the grain in your plywood rudder will run along the cord and contribute very little to the stiffness and strength. I think your going to have to strengthen the plywood with some form of reinforcement or use a solid hardwood.

By choosing to post the reply above you agree to the rules you agreed to when joining Sailnet.
Click Here to view those rules.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the SailNet Community forums, you must first register. Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.Please note: After entering 3 characters a list of Usernames already in use will appear and the list will disappear once a valid Username is entered.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.